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Spudrick68

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
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Please move this if there is a similar thread. I just wondered about places that people had visited of Fortean interest perhaps to share their experiences of such places. We went to Parga a few years ago and loved it (we are going back this May). I thought I'd share a few photos of places of interest.

The first photo is of the Necromantion, I have puit a link to it for further reading of the place.

http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-myths-legends/necromanteion-ancient-temple-dead-002255

Necromantion1 by Spudrick1, on Flickr

The second photo is of the underground temple. We were told that the ridges in the floor would hold the blood of human sacrifices.

Necromantion2 by Spudrick1, on Flickr

The next photo is of the River Styx to the underworld.

River Styx by Spudrick1, on Flickr

This is the view from one of the monasteries in Meteora, which were build to hide from invading Turks.

Meteora2 by Spudrick1, on Flickr

The last photo is of some of the monks skulls preserved in one of the monasteries.

Meteora1 by Spudrick1, on Flickr
 
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I visited the Capuchin Crypt, beneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini in Rome, back in 2012.

Apologies for the rubbish picture, no photos allowed so we had to take a shot of a postcard in the gift shop...

304455_10152189818495075_909440722_n (500x375).jpg


...and on the same theme, this is the Ossuary at St Catherine's Monastery, which is at the foot of Mount Sinai (of Ten Commandments fame)...

DSC_0899 (332x500).jpg
 
I can highly recommend the Sedlec Ossuary near Prague.

It's easy to get to - an interesting 40-minute TRAIN ride (from a modern station with the beautiful original Art Nouveau station perfectly preserved behind it) and a 10-minute walk afterwards - and when you get in photography is allowed.

There's an admission fee but it covers other stunning historical attractions too. Across the road there's a cathedral where you can see a saint's preserved body all dressed up and adorned, and you can go up into the roof to look at the mediaeval masonry and woodwork.

A mile or so up the road, on top of a hill, is a lovely mediaeval town with another gorgeous cathedral - looks like it's delicately carved out of white bone - and an arts centre housed in an old seminary. The views are great and there're lots of shops and cafes, though it's not overly touristy.

The ossuary itself is astonishing. It's quite small but absolutely crammed with skulls and skeletons, variously piled up, adorning the walls or made into decorations like a coat of arms and a huge chandelier. Quite the most bizarre display I've ever seen. I took the two Snailets along and we were there for a couple of hours examining the bones, photographing everything in sight and just generally drinking in the morbid weirdness.

I'd go as early as possible to have enough time to look at the lovely old station first. When you pay you automatically get a discount for every ticket after the first so it's quite cheap. The train ride is comfortable and the place is well signposted when you get off.

But SKELETONS! Why are you still here? :D
 
As an aside the monastery photographed is the same one that James Bond jumps off in one of the fillums (it may have been 'Live & Let Die', not sure. )
 
Please move this if there is a similar thread. I just wondered about places that people had visited of Fortean interest perhaps to share their experiences of such places. We went to Parga a few years ago and loved it (we are going back this May). I thought I'd share a few photos of places of interest...

I started an Illustrated Fortean Wanderings thread a few years back. Perhaps, if they think it appropriate, some nice mod might merge the two - seems to be the same intent behind both.
 
There're one or two 'Fortean Travels' threads around. Perhaps a link to them might be better than outright merging as they're quite old.
 
I can highly recommend the Sedlec Ossuary near Prague.

It's easy to get to - an interesting 40-minute TRAIN ride (from a modern station with the beautiful original Art Nouveau station perfectly preserved behind it) and a 10-minute walk afterwards - and when you get in photography is allowed.

There's an admission fee but it covers other stunning historical attractions too. Across the road there's a cathedral where you can see a saint's preserved body all dressed up and adorned, and you can go up into the roof to look at the mediaeval masonry and woodwork.

A mile or so up the road, on top of a hill, is a lovely mediaeval town with another gorgeous cathedral - looks like it's delicately carved out of white bone - and an arts centre housed in an old seminary. The views are great and there're lots of shops and cafes, though it's not overly touristy.

The ossuary itself is astonishing. It's quite small but absolutely crammed with skulls and skeletons, variously piled up, adorning the walls or made into decorations like a coat of arms and a huge chandelier. Quite the most bizarre display I've ever seen. I took the two Snailets along and we were there for a couple of hours examining the bones, photographing everything in sight and just generally drinking in the morbid weirdness.

I'd go as early as possible to have enough time to look at the lovely old station first. When you pay you automatically get a discount for every ticket after the first so it's quite cheap. The train ride is comfortable and the place is well signposted when you get off.

But SKELETONS! Why are you still here? :D

Yes, Sedlec is an amazing place. It's a suburb of Kutna Hora, a gorgeous medieval silver-mining town in Bohemia. As I understand it, in 1870 a local craftsman called Frantisek Rint was paid to arrange the bones in order. I was there in January 20 years ago and had the ossuary at Sedlec to myself. I was particularly taken by the chandelier made of bones and the signature of the artist - in bones - on the wall. It is an easy daytrip from Prague for anyone going that way.

upload_2016-1-17_20-13-13.png
 
There're one or two 'Fortean Travels' threads around. Perhaps a link to them might be better than outright merging as they're quite old.

Yebbut - it's not like they go off, is it?

I really like the travel threads, and it would be kind of nice to have the non-site specific/general travel ones in the same place - with links to threads about specific places.
 
If "bone chapels" are your thing, then I can recommend the Capelo dos Ossos in Faro. Was there a couple of years back and it's quite a sobering experience:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capela_dos_Ossos_(Faro)

On another thread, I already posted my photo of the remains of the "dragon" (el drac de Na Coca) in the Palma cathedral museum, where I was in October.

Closer to home, Chislehurst Caves are deliciously spooky and well worth a visit.

The most Fortean-feeling place I have ever visited though, has to be the Hypogeum just outside Valetta in Malta: Lots of strange tales of anomalous skulls found down there and even people disappearing in the tunnels off the lowest level:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypogeum_of_Ħal-Saflieni
 
A further musing about the Capela Dos Ossos in Portugal; on my recommendation my son and his girlfriend visited it a few months after we did and, on their return, he said he was walking past one of the alcoves and saw a loose broken piece of cranium which he said looked a bit like a piece of crab's shell. He said he was suddenly tempted to put it in his rucksack as a grim souvenir, until warned by his girlfriend in no uncertain terms not to be so crass and disrespectful. I seconded that sentiment when he told me and added "goodness knows what might have come back with that piece of skull".
 
The most Fortean-feeling place I have ever visited though, has to be the Hypogeum just outside Valetta in Malta: Lots of strange tales of anomalous skulls found down there and even people disappearing in the tunnels off the lowest level:

I totally agree. Very very cold and frightening (and I'm not usually afflicted by either of these negativities). Last time I was down 'The Hypo' was nearly 30 years ago. Malta is, itself, an incredibly atmospheric and Fortean place....
 
You're right. When I was a young lad (between 18 months and 3 and a half) I lived in Malta, as my father was posted there with the RAF. I've been back twice now in recent years and made a point of visiting all the mysterious ancient sites, including the Tarxian temple https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarxien_Temples, Ggantija https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ġgantija (thought to be the second oldest religious structure on Earth), the fascinating "cart ruts" http://www.cartrutsmalta.com/ and of course the Hypogeum.
 
I'm actually quite intrigued by the reference in this article to ''Slow TV'', I'm just checking it out now, http://www.nrk.no/presse/slow-tv-1.12057032

Video Wonder: 7 Hours on a Moving Train
by Tao Tao Holmes / 04 Feb 2016

This train journey, "Bergensbanen minutt for minutt," comes to us from Norway's Slow TV, which has redefined the idea of television as relaxation. Its broadcasts include 12 hours of knitting, 24 hours of lecturing, and a 134-hour boat ride.


http://www.atlasobscura.com/article...utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=atlas-page
 
Highway to hell is open for business: 'Devil's Elbow' bend that was once Britain's most feared road to be revived as a tourist attraction with walking routes and a new rest stop
By Chris Kitching for MailOnline
Published: 11:14 GMT, 2 February 2016 | Updated: 22:53 GMT, 2 February 2016

A former stretch of road in Scotland that was so dangerous that it earned the nickname The Devil’s Elbow is being revived as an attraction for adventurous holidaymakers.
The once-feared double-hairpin bend near Glenshee, Perthshire, used to be part of Britain’s highest route, the A93, but was bypassed when the road was straightened out in the 1960s – much to the relief of motorists.
With a one-in-six gradient, the original tracks remain today and continue to lure hikers or cyclists, but officials are trying to bring in more visitors with a new rest stop and walking routes.

30CD9BBE00000578-3427938-image-m-7_1454408444474.jpg


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/t...-s-Elbow-road-revived-tourist-attraction.html
 
Knowing how heavy the steering was on a Ford Capri, not to mention the lousy turning circle, I reckon that motorist is doomed!
 
MH370: Blaine Gibson's one-man search for answers
By Joel Gunter & Richard Westcott

In March 2014, Blaine Gibson was sitting in the living room of his childhood home, surrounded by memories.
He had held on to the small house in Carmel, California for eight years after his mother passed away, visiting occasionally from Seattle to comb through the artefacts of their family life.
Now he had finally arranged to sell the house and this was to be his last visit. With boxes of pictures and documents to sort through, daytime TV became his constant companion.

Then Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared, and Blaine Gibson was hooked.
"I was stuck in the house and it was on the rolling news all day," he says. "And it hadn't just crashed into the South China Sea, it went across the Malay Peninsula to somewhere in the Indian Ocean. It was a complete mystery."

Mr Gibson sold the house and flew back to Seattle, but the mystery of MH370 stayed with him. For a year he investigated quietly, reading articles and posting on a Facebook group dedicated to the disappearance, until he read that there would be a commemoration for families on the first anniversary.

A dedicated traveller, Mr Gibson had been moving from country to country with no overarching purpose. Now he sensed he had a mission. He booked a ticket to Kuala Lumpur and headed to the event.
He mingled with family members and listened to their stories. He watched as a woman called Grace stood up to talk about her mother, and it reminded him of his own late mother.
"I was touched by the plight of the families," he says. "I just couldn't imagine how they felt, knowing nothing about their loved ones for a year.
"So I just decided, I'll go look for it for myself. I always suspected that the first piece of evidence of that plane would be a piece of debris washing ashore somewhere, that someone just happened to find."

For a year Mr Gibson visited beaches from Malaysia to Mauritius to the Maldives, keeping an eye out on some and combing others. Then one ordinary day in Mozambique, scanning a coastal sandbank, he saw something that didn't belong there.
When he picked up the triangular piece of debris from the sand, it was lighter than he expected. But he felt immediately that it was from MH370. Air crash investigators working on the case have since said it "almost certainly" is.

"The question people ask me is how could you find this?. But you could ask someone how could you possibly win the lottery? Nobody looks at the huge number of times you bought tickets and didn't win. They just look at the one time you did," he says.

Three months later, Mr Gibson is back in the news. His travels have taken him to Madagascar, where he has turned up what may be another piece of the puzzle - debris that appears to be part of an in-flight TV monitor.
It may be another small coup for a man operating on the fringes of a huge international search effort. Mr Gibson sees himself as an important addition to the main search, someone at ground level, in among the sand and tall grass, talking to locals.

Mr Gibson says his search for the wreckage fits in well with his love of travelling and his ambition to visit every country (current count - 177). But it's clear that there is a powerful love of mystery involved.

Before MH370 appeared on his radar, he had travelled to Russia in 1996 to investigate the so-called Tunguska event - an enormous explosion over Siberia in 1908 thought to have been caused by a meteor.
He went to Ethiopia looking for the Lost Ark of the Covenant - the chest, known to Indiana Jones fans around the world, that according to the Bible holds the Ten Commandments.
And he's dabbled in studying the collapse of the Mayan Civilisation.
He is frank about having less luck with those adventures than with MH370. "I did not find the Tunguskan meteorite," he concedes. And: "In Ethiopia I did not actually find the Ark, but I think I was near it."

But when Mr Gibson speaks, there is an almost child-like sense of awe at chasing mysteries of such scale. "I love travelling, and I love solving mysteries, and I love to do good things for people," he says.
There is also a sense that the pursuit of mystery lends purpose to an otherwise itinerant lifestyle.
"Yes it has given me purpose," he says, "and purpose in things I enjoy - travelling, meeting people, and solving mysteries.
"I've learned a lot about aviation and I've learned a lot about oceanography. I've learned something about marine biology and something about politics. And I've learned something about people too."
As for the celebrity that goes with it, he says it is "not that important" to him. He puts himself out there to publicise the search for the plane and keep it going, he says, and if that means giving interviews, so be it.

There is a limit to what Mr Gibson's suspected plane parts can tell us. The fact that they are all small suggests that the aircraft hit the water hard, rather than being glided down by a pilot, and he believes firmly that the pilots did not purposely down the plane.
They also indicate that the Australian search team is looking in roughly the right place - oceanographers predicted that aircraft parts would eventually wash up where they've been found.
But they are unlikely to ever tell us why the plane ended up thousands of miles off course, in one of the most remote corners of the earth. Realistically, unless they find the "black box" flight recorders at the bottom of the ocean, we'll never know for sure

In the meantime, Mr Gibson's quest continues. After another raft of media interviews, he's headed down the south-east coast of Madagascar and eventually to South Africa.
First though, he has to make an important stop in the Madagascan capital, Antananarivo, to turn in his new find.
"I feel very good when I hand in the debris," he says. "I feel like I have contributed something. But at the same time there is a sadness. These are pieces of evidence that the plane crashed."

And the new piece, the TV monitor case, will be the hardest, he says. Much harder than a part of a tail or wing.
"Every time you fly, you see the monitor on the back of the seat in front. For somebody, this might have been the last thing they saw."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36498547
 
I think I posted it before, but we have a chapel decorated with bones in Milan, too. it's called San Bernardino alle Ossa.
9ossa.jpg


and then of course 1000+ km South we have the famous Catacombe dei Cappuccini in Palermo, Sicily.
crociera+fantasia+msc+foto+218.JPG
 
This thread is among the most creepiest one i have been to with some really interesting addition to my knowledge
 
my wife and myself are off to Prague on December 3rd (in time for Miklaus, December 5th). Does anyone have not obvious knowledge of what to see, or places to eat or drink?
 
Just back from a week in Penzance, a hell of a drive from North Lancashire I must say. Anyone from the area I daresay will know these well.

We did a walk from the Merry Maidens stone circle to Mousehole,not Mowsil ;)and back to Penzance.

The first two are the Merry Maidens stone circle, quite atmospheric in the morning mist. The third I found out after is a separate stone which folklore states was a fiddler who played in a Sunday. Although quite a distance from the circle it does appear to be in a Westerly direction from the circle and wondered if they were related.

The last photo is from a church in Penzance, which I assume to be the head of John the Baptist (if memory serves me right.

View attachment 55_ Merry Maidens1 low.jpg

View attachment 58_ Merry Maidens3 low.jpgView attachment 59_ Eastern sight stone low.jpgView attachment 67_ John the revelator low.jpg
 
I couldn't find any other thread that would be good to put this in.
Just some tips for when travelling.
(if there is a better place for this like a 'hints and tips' thread or similar then fine)
Actually sensible travel tips.
Thank you Katie.
Not that I ever go anywhere.
 
I couldn't find any other thread that would be good to put this in.
Just some tips for when travelling.
(if there is a better place for this like a 'hints and tips' thread or similar then fine)
Actually sensible travel tips.
Thank you Katie.
Not that I ever go anywhere.
Sound advice - especially that last bit. Always look like you know what you are doing and where you are going, even when you don't - that has got me through some extremely dodgy districts in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras - not guaranteed to work, but better than looking like a sacrificial lamb served up on a plate.
 
Sound advice - especially that last bit. Always look like you know what you are doing and where you are going, even when you don't - that has got me through some extremely dodgy districts in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras - not guaranteed to work, but better than looking like a sacrificial lamb served up on a plate.
I had a brilliant 'trick' to avoid being ripped off by Cairo taxi drivers;

First, find out from an Egyptian person how much the journey you wish to take would cost them. Say £E20. Expect to pay more as you are a foreigner, so a 'fair' rise would be up to £E30-35. Some are decent and won't go to extremes, but others will start off at £E100 or even more.

Second, don't keep a big wad of money in one pocket. Seperate the denominations out- 1 and 5's, in this pocket, 10 and 20's in another and larger ones in another. I used to see people all the time pulling out a big wad of cash.

Start haggling. When you get the guy down to say £E50, and I'm on 30, I pull out a few ones, and then pretend to rummage around in my pockets for more money, eventually 'finding' another one pound note. Nine times out of ten, by this time the driver is fed up waiting and tells you to get in, settling on £E35. He's made £E15 which is a very good profit for them, and I haven't been conned too much (only £1.50 British), everyones happy.

Also, look as poor as possible (not difficult for me). No flashy watches, jewellery, clothes etc. I go for the 'tramp' look.

What is annoying is when some people, usually ones who are just there for a week or two, are quite happy to pay £E100 (£10 British) to get across the city, which is a good deal for us, but means that they then expect it from all foreigners, even skint backpackers.
 
I had a brilliant 'trick' to avoid being ripped off by Cairo taxi drivers;

First, find out from an Egyptian person how much the journey you wish to take would cost them. Say £E20. Expect to pay more as you are a foreigner, so a 'fair' rise would be up to £E30-35. Some are decent and won't go to extremes, but others will start off at £E100 or even more.

Second, don't keep a big wad of money in one pocket. Seperate the denominations out- 1 and 5's, in this pocket, 10 and 20's in another and larger ones in another. I used to see people all the time pulling out a big wad of cash.

Start haggling. When you get the guy down to say £E50, and I'm on 30, I pull out a few ones, and then pretend to rummage around in my pockets for more money, eventually 'finding' another one pound note. Nine times out of ten, by this time the driver is fed up waiting and tells you to get in, settling on £E35. He's made £E15 which is a very good profit for them, and I haven't been conned too much (only £1.50 British), everyones happy.

Also, look as poor as possible (not difficult for me). No flashy watches, jewellery, clothes etc. I go for the 'tramp' look.

What is annoying is when some people, usually ones who are just there for a week or two, are quite happy to pay £E100 (£10 British) to get across the city, which is a good deal for us, but means that they then expect it from all foreigners, even skint backpackers.
Yeah, I did similar on buses in Latin America - ask someone local on the bus how much they pay to wherever I'm going, also listen to what the locals call the destination - they might use a nickname or contraction, then just hand over the exact amount and say my destination as a local would. Works every time. On one occasion I did this, and just after me some Americans got on looking very touristy - they were completely ripped off and new it, but no amount of angry arguing would change the bus crew's minds - if they wanted to travel, they had to pay the rip-off fare.
 
On one occasion I did this, and just after me some Americans got on looking very touristy -
Well, I didn't want to say it for fear of being lynched on here, but yes, Americans mainly. AND my English mate who couldn't grasp that pulling out a big wad of £E100 notes was asking for trouble.

See you on the 'nailed to a tree thread' for insulting Americans.
 
We just came back from Krakow yesterday.

Amongst the photos I took was this and I wondered if anyone knew what this on the front a building signified?

32_ Masonic Sign_1000.jpg
 
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